Clarkson is a deep lying playmaker. The ‘pivot’ type…Pirlo, Carrick as opposed to a Makelele, Travis type

It’s a catch 22. I get your point but those two lads aren’t going to develop if they’re sat on the bench waiting for the rest to get injured. Ideally we need both to come back next season like Wharton did last summer ready to take on a Lenihan or Ayala for the first 11.

Whether you rate Mowbray or don’t. The decision to send ours out on loan and get PL loans in is because he believes that theirs are more ready than ours. I don’t think we’ve sent any out during his reign that should’ve been playing in the first team. Can you think of any?

I disagree. I think all three could do with a loan. Carter and Magloire aren’t ready physically to play every week. Wharton proved our model on how this works. Butterworth also needs a full season playing imo and would benefit from a loan if we can replace him. All Mowbray hating aside, the suggestion from @TruRover that he doesn’t give youth a chance is quite frankly ludicrous. We’ll have around 10 youth team graduates in our match day squad every game this season and Mowbray has given the vast majority their debuts.

👀 Someone get onto the Crewe Journo who broke the Pickering story. We were ‘in’ for him early in the summer and the timing around the bud makes sense..

Pickering takin the piss I see! Lovely

Correct and IF the Obafemi deal falls flat will then use this as a stick to batter the club with for not replacing him. Some will go as far as full 180’s saying Obafemi could’ve been our saviour. Others will slaughter Venkys for not reinvesting it whilst refusing to pay a tenner to go to Morecambe tonight (or whatever). WTF 🤣🤣🤣

Ings is nearly 30 with no resale value. I think Arma is worth £25m and the market will decide it either way!

I’d ask for £20m plus Idah on a perm and offer them a sell on fee. Same with Southampton and Obafemi. The full £25m is a strong possibility now though.

Mate, come on….the feeling in the club was that one would be leaving and another incoming. There are many many things that can change that situation. Trust me, no one comes on here with anything they hear to Willy wag. 9/10 times you get shot down but you know there are people who do want to know. I can tell you that 100% that in April, not one of the coaching staff expected the Manager to keep his job. I said as much. The rumours and information was that he would be replaced and even that replacements had been lined up and were being spoken about openly. Then Venkys do a U-turn. Was it because they lost their nerve? Did the candidate they want back out? Does FFP mean we can’t afford to sack Mowbray? Who knows That’s their prerogative!

That £3bn is probably closer to £5bn now. They aren’t cribbing about 20-30m. No way… Over the years I’ve spoken to several people who either played / coached were present in the Venkys regime and EVERY single one had differing opinions but agreed that all you ever had to do was ask for money and it came…they phrase they use is “all you have to do is ask” So I don’t believe Venkys are pushing the cuts or the sale of the training ground. That’s coming from those trying to justify their job working within the rules around ffp etc.

I don’t get the blame deflector argument. It’s true that they can’t seem to pick the right manager but it’s also true that they do pay the bills and the only time the budget gets cut is when FFP bites. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Venkys were bothered either way and it was Waggot and Cheston enforcing the spend reductions to deal with FFP. I do know one thing about Venkys. Whether it’s £10m or £50m they have to put in it doesn’t really matter. It’s chump change for them when you look into their wealth.

Yes - £75kpa

It’s more money 👍🏼

Who knows? Never any Comms out of India and now the trio are noses out of joint. ‘Could’ get Kean-esque If they’re not careful. Urgh 🙈

Thanks @phili this is near on exactly what I eluded to earlier. Carnage over there…NO ONE including themselves expected them to still be here. Staffing team getting decimated, internal belief that the trading ground is gone and they’re appalled at the prospect of all being moved to the academy. I can’t see any of the players due to be out of contract renewing. If they stick with this plan and don’t get rid of the trio then we will be out on a limb with a team full of academy graduates.

Sell it and move everyone to the academy site is what I’ve heard 🤮

Just that the place is so stale, no money and the training ground is being sold. I can see a Bowyer / Akpan type scenario upcoming 🙈

I’ve heard some pretty awful rumours. My feeling is the best we can hope for right now is that we get to see a few cracking youngsters break through whilst JRC, Bucko, Dolan, Davenport and Carter cement regular spots. Things can always change with Venkys of course but if they don’t trust the young lads then I can see another ‘Hope Akpan’ type year coming up 🙈

I don’t think there’s much doubt that the likes of Carter will be playing this season as well as Prem loans….

That’s really interesting. So basically, we have to make a net profit of £13m on transfers to bring next summers submission down to £7m loss as opposed to £20m. That’s why they want £20m for AA which will pocket them £12m plus £1m in wages. So they can then use the £5m they’ve saved in players leaving to pay for contract renewals and new signings (loans and freebies) Get through the next submission and the ffp cycle starts again, right? 🙈

Mate, we are a complete dysfunctional mess to be honest. Losing millions, a manager who shouldn’t be in post, lost 11 players, placed in an embargo with no head of recruitment. Now 3 weeks away from the start of the season, 6 weeks away from the end of the transfer window and no signings..no actual kit yet, It’s poor mate. Very poor! Things can only get better! 😊

You’re struggling to understand how the influx of up to £20m effects our decision making around signings? Maybe the cheap, free agents you talk about aren’t first choice and the sale of AA would mean they could opt for their first choices across three or four positions? I have a feeling they’ve been waiting for the new head of recruitment and the potential AA money to make their move.

I think the way you frame this is a choice. I choose to always remain positive and it’s served me well in life. What will be will be, only worry about the things you can effect. It’s better to endure pain with a positive mindset than a negative. Negativity doesn’t serve any person well.

It was a pretty attritional game. Was interesting to see some of the younger lads play who I’d not seen before. The standout performers being Brennan, Pike, Saadi and Butterworth. The latter looks a top player if he can stay fit.